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Asiamet drill results point to Indonesia copper potential

Published: 07:15 08 Oct 2015 BST

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Asiamet's drilling is now complete.

Asiamet Resources (LON:ARS) said the 2015 drill programme for the Beruang Kanan Main (BKM) deposit in Indonesia is now complete as it released another set of assays that burnish the potential  of the resource.

Mineralisation was intercepted in sections from three metres down to 67 metres, returning copper grades of 1.09% to 2.61%.

The grades are similar to those uncovered elsewhere on the property, which is part of the wider KSK project in Central Kalimantan. It now has results from 66 of the 71 holes drilled to date.

Once the outstanding assays are completed they will be used to update the resource. Together with the metallurgical work that continues and mining studies, which start soon, they will also form the basis for a preliminary economic assessment (PEA) of BKM.

The study, expected to be published in the first quarter of next year, will provide the company with some guide to the economics (start-up costs and returns) of a low cost mining operation on the site.   

“The flow of excellent results from Asiamet’s 2015 drilling programme at BKM continues to highlight the potential for a near term mine development with robust economics,” said chief executive Tony Manini.

“In particular the delineation of two discrete shallow, higher grade zones is very promising. Following receipt of final assays and reporting of the resource update for BKM the Company’s focus will move to the critically important heap leach test work and mining studies, feeding into the PEA.

“The PEA will define the initial financial parameters for the BKM project and provide the basis for a decision to move into feasibility studies. This is an exciting time for Asiamet and we look forward to providing investors with regular updates as each component of the PEA is compiled in the coming months.”

Recent research from Optiva Securities reckons that, with 282,000 tonnes of contained copper, the KSK Project could support a 20,000 tonne a year operation.

On that basis, KSK is worth £52mln (US$79mlm), which compares to the current market capitalisation of under £9mln.

CEO Manini has big plans for Asiamet, formerly Kalimantan Gold, and has called in long-time collaborator Stephen Hughes and Mansur Geiger, discoverer of the Kalimantan project, to help.

Their task is quite straightforward – to get the BKM up and into production in the shortest possible time.

The new boss came on board at the turn of the year when Kalimantan Gold bought the Beutong copper-gold asset in Sumatra in an all share deal from private company, Tiger’s Realm Minerals, run by Manini and partner Owen Hegarty.

Beutong is a potential monster and will be part of the longer term thinking of the company.

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on 11/10/23